1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a genomic DNA, more particularly, a genomic DNA encoding a polypeptide capable of inducing the production of interferon-.gamma. (hereinafter abbreviated as "IFN-.gamma.") by immunocompetent cells.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present inventors successfully isolated a polypeptide capable of inducing the production of INF-.gamma. by immunocompetent cells and cloned a cDNA encoding the polypeptide, which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Kokai No.27,189/96 and 193,098/96. Because the present polypeptide possesses the properties of enhancing killer cells' cytotoxicity and inducing killer cells' formation as well as inducing INF-.gamma., a useful biologically active protein, it is expected to be widely used as an agent for viral diseases, microbial diseases, tumors and/or immunopathies, etc.
It is said that a polypeptide generated by a gene expression may be partially cleaved and/or glycosylated by processing with intracellular enzymes in human cells. A polypeptide to be used in therapeutic agents should be preferably processed similarly as in human cells, whereas human cell lines generally have a disadvantage of less producing the present polypeptide, as described in Japanese Patent Application No.269,105/96. Therefore, recombinant DNA techniques should be applied to obtain the present polypeptide in a desired amount. To produce the polypeptide processed similarly as in human cells using recombinant DNA techniques, mammalian cells should be used as the hosts.